Gmail 2.0 Screenshots — Google during the recent Analyst Day announced they want to release an updated version of Gmail that's supposed to be faster than the current one, thanks to a JavaScript back-end rewrite. Also, the new version aims to improve contacts management.

Gmail's New Version Is Now Available — The new version of Gmail I was talking about the other day is already available in some Gmail accounts. If you see a link to a "newer version" at the top of the page, click on it and enjoy the new features: mail prefetching, updated contact manager and other small updates.

Google Analyst Day Features New Gmail — It's been well-known for a while that Google is readying a version 2.0 of Gmail, designed to update the four-year old email software that has been looking dated lately. At Google's recent Analyst Day, they talked about the new version publicly for the first time …

Report: NBC wanted a cut of iPod revenue — I will say this: NBC's Jeff Zucker has got serious stones. — According to a report in the venerable entertainment industry trade rag Variety, Zucker, president and CEO of NBC Universal, asked Apple for a cut of iPod revenue as part …

Can a Google Phone Connect With Carriers? — Google Inc. is close to unveiling its long-planned strategy to shake up the wireless market, people familiar with the matter say. The Web giant's ambitious goal: to make applications and services as accessible on cellphones as they are on the Internet.

The Web 2.0 World is Skunk Drunk on Its Own Kool-Aid — This is a sad time for the web. It's as almost somber as the time just before the last bubble burst in 2000. I was working in PR with dot-com startups at the time and the way I feel now is how I did back then. I wish I didn't, but I do.

Automattic Spurns $200 Million Acquisition Offer — Automattic, the company that created the Wordpress.com blogging platform and oversees the Wordpress.org open source project, has rejected a $200 million acquisition offer, says multiple sources. Half the price was to be paid in cash, half in stock in the buyer.

Meebo Platform Launches With Big San Francisco Party — Sequoia backed Meebo launches Meebo Platform this evening, allowing third party developers to create applications for the Meebo web chat service. They're celebrating the launch with a big party in San Francisco with hundreds of the company's closest friends.

Plentyoffish: 1-Man Company May Be Worth $1Billion — We've written before about PlentyOfFish, a leading online dating site that is run by a single person and is raking in money. Markus Frind is the singular force behind PlentyOfFish. At the time of our last review, June 2006 …

BEA Defends Its Rebuff of the Takeover Attempt by Oracle — BEA Systems defended itself yesterday in the face of mounting pressure to strike a deal to sell the company after it allowed Oracle's buyout offer to expire Sunday night. — In a letter to Carl C. Icahn, BEA's largest shareholder …

AdBrite puts spotlight on Facebook application ads — Online advertising firm AdBrite is set to announce on Tuesday a new program to serve ads for third-party Facebook applications. Considering it a niche "channel" alongside existing AdBrite verticals, the company has launched …

Yahoo Messenger for Windows Gets a Tune-Up with v9.0 — Yahoo is releasing version 9.0 of its popular instant messaging software, Yahoo Messenger, for Windows tonight. All in all, the update contains nothing revolutionary but does introduce some useful features.

Negroponte: Windows key to OLPC philosophy — While the news that Microsoft is developing a version of Windows for the so-called "$100 laptop" has caused some consternation, One Laptop Per Child Chairman Nicholas Negroponte has said the project could not promote openness if it blocked Windows.